IM 170EXT Build/Questions

[JM302]

I completely understand your trepidation. After my EXT75, I swore off the APS stands forever.

I've had the 170 sitting in the garage for a while now. I had all the hardwoods in the house refinished and although it only took the crew 4 days to complete, I had to wait for the poly to cure. Thursday marks 3 weeks since it was completed and I have the green light to start putting stuff back in the house. This weekend I'll be moving the tank and stand and then I'll be in full on plumbing / wiring / layout design mode. I'll be sure to compare notes with you. Pop in my build thread too.

 

[GGuy]

I have an EXT200 Peninsula and was also concerned with the wobbliness. I made sure to add shims at any point where there was a gap. The tank has been filled since early March, and the wobbliness has reduced over this time..

Understand that the construction/material of these stands make them extremely rigid and prone to this type of movement. Unlike a standard wood stand, it takes time for the stand/floor to settle in.

 

[kribbz]

For all the 80/20 guys here, I’m looking to use the 80/20 to build a light mount for my t5 fixture. It’s an aquatic life 48” fixture and will have 3 radion xr30’s in it. I’m figuring the weight to be about 31 lbs hanging. What I want to do is build 2 90 degree brackets coming off of the wall and suspending the fixture from it. How do I figure out which brackets to use for the 80/20 to support the weight. I haven’t been able to find any load data on it. I need the bracket to come out about 24” off of the wall and then suspend the cables from the rail.

 

[kribbz]

Well it’s been a bit since I’ve updated the build. The tank is finally wet! I got the stand built and the rock moved over. I only had one leak because like a dummy I forgot to glue a 90….

I used almost 160lbs of rock inteo peninsulas. I had some help I laying it out. I chose not to glue the ricks so I could pull them out to frag corals. My current setup is all glued together which makes dragging difficult. I’m hoping to let the sticks grow up and be able to provide plenty of flow through the tank.

I’m using two maxspect returns for redundancy. They are super quiet. My only complaint is the plumbing fittings they provide with the pumps. I had to get creative with some fittings to get them to fit the vinyl tubing.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Well it’s been a bit since I’ve updated the build. The tank is finally wet! I got the stand built and the rock moved over. I only had one leak because like a dummy I forgot to glue a 90….

I used almost 160lbs of rock inteo peninsulas. I had some help I laying it out. I chose not to glue the ricks so I could pull them out to frag corals. My current setup is all glued together which makes dragging difficult. I’m hoping to let the sticks grow up and be able to provide plenty of flow through the tank.

I’m using two maxspect returns for redundancy. They are super quiet. My only complaint is the plumbing fittings they provide with the pumps. I had to get creative with some fittings to get them to fit the vinyl tubing.

Glad you were able to get water in there!

 

[Regg]

Looking nice my stand came damage hopefully I get a replacement soon to finish the build.

 

[kribbz]

Looking nice my stand came damage hopefully I get a replacement soon to finish the build.

That sucks!! There was a little damage to the box mine came in but absolutely no damage at all.

 

[t5Nitro]

Nice work on the tank progress. That's a bit of an eye opener on the return nozzles. I have the same tank. Water accelerates hard out of the loclines. Maybe that's why with it being restricted at the end.

What flow rate are you running on each of your returns? I set mine up to run dual returns, but just one jebao at 40-50% is the maximal flow rate the tank allows for. Two at 30% overpowers the tank and spills into the tertiary drain. I forget which models I went with.

 

[kribbz]

Nice work on the tank progress. That's a bit of an eye opener on the return nozzles. I have the same tank. Water accelerates hard out of the loclines. Maybe that's why with it being restricted at the end.

What flow rate are you running on each of your returns? I set mine up to run dual returns, but just one jebao at 40-50% is the maximal flow rate the tank allows for. Two at 30% overpowers the tank and spills into the tertiary drain. I forget which models I went with.

I have the two maxspect 10ks running at 14. It keeps the water line about a 1/4”
Below the overflow. I put a strainer on the open 1st line to help keep any debris from getting in there. So far so good

 

[kribbz]

I’ve been working on setting up a cabinet next to the tank to keep the cords organized. I’ve got one more trip in august and then I’m going to move everything from the 75 into the 170. I’ve also been very busy trying to sell off most of the softies and LPS. I want to go all sps on this tank.

I just picked up a nice rack full of sps from fraghouse corals sale.